(About 30 minutes later)

Tiny beads of sweat drizzled down my forehead as I strenuously huffed and puffed, inflating my cheeks like a chipmunk, to rapidly blow on the withering flames which pitifully simmered upon the twigs beneath the sticks and wood. Valarendrik sat still as a statue, crouched down beside me, looking highly concerned for my wellbeing. I sucked in the deepest breath that my exhausted trembling lungs could muster up, then gave one final spittly blow as I slowly collapsed to my side. The flames finally caught on the larger sticks, and the whole thing abruptly combusted in a pillar of fiery glory.

Success!

The mist instantly illuminated with an eerie amber glow, while the inky black river beside us now glistened with shimmering gold as its gentle ripples captured the light. Flickering rays glimmered beneath the dancing silvery leaves and gilded the shinny red fruits so that they sparkled like rubies. The bright swirling flames caressed the insufferable darkness and caused shadows to beautifully flutter throughout the wavering trees and across the pebbly beach.

I tried to quickly sit up in both victory and awe but instead screamed as I was suddenly wrapped in darkness and forcefully yanked away from the firepit. Valarendrik immediately let out a harrowing otherworldly hiss which made my blood run ice cold. It seemed to creepily echo within his throat as if a thousand trapped souls were all screeching inside of him at once. Sagacor simultaneously whinnied in distress, and before I knew it, all three of us were hiding behind a caedis tree.

Valarendrik lowly growled as he held me tightly against himself, with his dark shadows swirling chaotically all around us. His claws were fully extended and black venom dripped from his fangs. Two things that I’d come to recognize as surefire signs that danger was nearby. Pun intended. Sagacor was cowering behind us, likely thinking that he was fully hidden. Although, just his head and front were behind the tree, while the light flickered across his big horse butt.

“What the hell are you doing?” I tried to say, with my cheek firmly squished up against his vibrating chest.

“Getting us a safe distance away from... whatever the fuck that is!?” His voice was layered with a ghastly abyssal pitch, as all ten of our eyes peeked around the trunk, and over towards the crackling flames.

I furiously ripped my arm out of his grasp and irritatedly gestured towards the damn thing. “That is the fire I’ve been trying to make.”

His crimson eyes suspiciously narrowed at it. “That is the fire? Why is it so unfathomably bright?”

“I don’t know, because fire is just naturally bright, I suppose. Now, let’s go sit by it, and I’ll cook up the food.” I’d been eating nothing but strange alien plants since arriving here. Some were pretty decent tasting, others I’d spit out immediately. But most I thought would be greatly improved if roasted.

As I tried to wiggle out of his grasp, his shadows swiftly wrapped around my waist like a giant octopus tentacle and firmly held me up in the air. “I’ll go first.” He protectively stated like a true chevalier, while holding up a clawed hand.

“Alright, fine.” I grumbled as I hovered about a foot off the ground. It wasn’t the first time he’d done this to me. “But just know that you’re overreacting. It’s perfectly safe.”

He peered back over his shoulder with a raised brow. “I’ll make sure of that.” His gaze moved back to the flames before he could see me roll my eyes.

A mellifluous hiss resounded through the air as he unsheathed his swords and warily approached the firepit with carefully calculated steps. The large menacing blades brightly gleamed as they reflected the light, with each obsidian gemstone glittering upon the black handles like luminous stars within midnight’s ebony depths.

My gaze trailed along the impressively sharp curve of a blade, then moved further up to the muscular arm holding it. I began to examine the hard bulging muscles of his biceps, boldly defined by the flickering firelight, and up along his neck to the strong jawline and straight nose making up the striking angles of his illuminated profile. He cautiously side-stepped around the flames, with his hackles raised, fully prepared for it to attack. Then he quickly turned to face the fire, threatening it with a fearsome swoosh of his sword. My eyes slowly trailed along the strong width of his shoulders, following further down his perfectly toned back and the cascade of raven locks, then straight to the way his tight black leather pants hugged his herculeanly handsome behind.

Before I knew it, he swiftly turned around again, making my gaze level with his front. I bit my lower lip, noticing the way the fire accentuated the masculine bulge within his pants. I could tell that he wasn’t erect, just naturally big, and yet, my lower belly unexplainably quivered at the sight of it.

He stepped to the side, then looked down and behind himself, trying to figure out what in the world I was so blatantly staring at. “What are you looking at?” He cluelessly asked with genuine confusion.

Oh my god! Was I seriously just leering at him like that!?

It suddenly felt as if I were suffocating within a noxious cloud of shame, and a deep blush quickly crept across my cheeks. The physical evidence of my immediate mortification. “Oh, um, well... I uh, I guess maybe...” I senselessly rambled as his shadows carried me closer to him. “I’m just glad to see the fire.” I guiltily shrugged with a fake smile, now nose to nose with him.

He intensely peered into my eyes with a scrutinizing stare, then abruptly shrugged with a smile. “Oh, well that was kind of a weird way to look at it. I mean, you were going like this.” His spiky teeth dorkily poked out to bite his lower lip, while his eyes googled as if he were staring at his favorite mouthwatering dessert. It was likely an accurate imitation of my lewdly leering face.

“Stop making fun of me.” I angrily hissed, still dangling before him in his shadows.

A deep hearty laugh boomed from his chest. “Alright, fine. Well, let’s get you comfortable, shall we? ...Sagacor.” He tried to call Sagacor over.

Sagacor timidly nickered, and hesitantly took a few steps towards us, then a few steps further back behind the tree. Valarendrik tried to coax him out a few more times, until ever so slowly, his large black hooves gingerly crunched over the pebbly beach towards us. His six deathly eyes looked like foggy white marble reflecting gold as they warily inspected the light.

“Easy, easy.” Valarendrik cooed while grabbing the reins and guiding him over.

Sagacor’s large cadaverous body nestled down beside the fire pit, and the shadows placed me gently to the ground with my back against his side. Valarendrik sat down next to me and pulled a plethora of unappetizing-looking plants that we’d gathered out of the saddlebag.

I tried to smile, I truly did, but it came out looking more like a reluctant grimace. “Alright, let’s get cooking...”